The Great Siege Monument in Valletta has been reopened this morning, and activists began reinstating the memorial to slain journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia later in the day.

The restoration of the monument was at the heart of controversy, after Culture Minister Owen Bonnici had closed it off for restoration works back in September, which stopped Civil Society activists from continuing to place the memorial to Daphne Caruana Galizia on the monument at the time. The issue of the constant removal of the memorial on the monument, or on the hoarding around it, caused uproar.

Back in September, the minister posted pictures on Facebook which Bonnici said "speak for themselves", and that the granite base had been damaged and needs restoration. The minister however, was accused of using restoration works as an excuse. Occupy Justice previously said: "Through the Ministry of Justice, the government has swept clean, time and time again, the peaceful tokens by which we protest against the corruption and impunity in this country: flowers, candles and banners."

At the time when the monument was boarded up, the activists said: "The boarding up of our makeshift memorial set up spontaneously at the foot of the Great Siege monument in front of the Law Courts as a daily reminder that there is no rule of law in Malta, is nothing but an attempt to blatantly supress freedom of speech."

A court case on the use of the Great Siege monument as a tribute to Caruana Galizia is ongoing.

Earlier this afternoon, activists went to reinstate the memorial to the slain journalist, and an argument broke out between an elderly man together with another individual, and the activists.

The Times of Malta reports that a man was injured when confronting the activists. "The man appeared aggressive, the people placing flowers started filming him, he took a swing at one of them, fell over and hit his head on the ground." the Times of Malta reports.

Photo by Luke Zerafa